Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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“Among the innocent women being tried, I’m afraid many of them are believers.”
Since it was involving the factional struggle within the Church, Luo Mi took the opportunity to ask Anos a soul-searching question: “We are all believers of God, why do we have to kill each other? Is this in line with God’s teachings?”
Anos closed his eyes slightly, went silent for a moment, and then sighed: “People in the world have many misunderstandings and misinterpretations of God. This is the original sin of those who have turned away from God. Because of this, the entry into paradise needs to be screened, and only the sinless can enter.”
Could this be transferred to original sin? Luo Mi felt that he could not communicate with this devout believer in an ordinary way: “Your Highness, which school of thought do you agree with now?”
Anos looked at Luo Mi calmly and said slowly: “I don’t completely agree with it. But I respect every servant of God who promotes God’s benevolence in his own way.”
“What about believers who set up the Witch Trial?”
Anos made a cross lightly, his expression serious: “Correcting believers from taking the wrong path is also the duty of a servant of God and a shepherd of the world.”
After saying this, Anos reached out and pushed open the door.
The moment he pushed open the door, Anos released his own concealment technique.
The two missionaries inside the gate had finished their after-meal prayer while Anos and Luo Mi were talking. When they saw Anos suddenly appear, their faces suddenly changed and they stood up.
They quickly glanced at the cross pattern on Anos’s body and asked calmly: “A ‘secular’ person?”
Anos asked, “Did you instigate the witch trial in Larry Town?”
The two missionaries showed a look of realization on their faces. One of them said sarcastically, “Secular pseudo-believers always like to use dirty reasons to speculate about true believers of God.”
Anos was not angry: “You want to say that you have nothing to do with the Witch Trial?”
Another missionary snorted, “It’s relevant, but the mayor asked us to teach how to conduct the witch trial – otherwise why would we come to the Alpha Empire?”
Anos frowned: “Why should he invite you?”
“Perhaps even the nobles of the empire feel that the secular faction is too incompetent and that the witches have taken advantage of it?” The pious priest did not have a good face towards Anos at all. “This is the evil result of the entanglement between the secular faction and secular power!”
While Anos was speaking, Luo Mi, relying on his invisibility, slipped into the room and looked around for any clues.
He saw a densely written document on the bookshelf, but it was a little high for Luo Mi now, so he had to stand on tiptoe to barely see it clearly.
“If a woman lives an honest and upright life, she must be a witch, because witches are good at disguising themselves; but if a woman lives a dissolute and decadent life, she undoubtedly reveals her witch nature;
If a woman is honest during interrogation, she must be a witch, because the devil gives them the confidence to lie before God; but if she looks evasive and is terrified, then she is undoubtedly a witch, afraid of the glory of God;
If a woman’s eyes are fixed in one direction when she is being tortured, she must be a witch, looking at the devil who tempted her; but if her eyes are darting around when she is being tortured, she is undoubtedly a witch, seeking help from the devil flying around;
If……”
The content of this document almost made Luo Mi’s blood pressure rise: “Isn’t this the infamous “Hammer of Witches”[1]?”
There was such a period in the Middle Ages on Earth as well. The priest who wrote this “Hammer of Witches” vividly demonstrated the cruelty and tyranny of religion – as long as you are suspicious, you must be a witch.
With this “guidance document”, it was no wonder that there were more than a dozen witch trials held in Larry Town every year!
Luo Mi really wanted to take the document down, but remembering that he was now invisible, he did not move rashly. He stood beside the document, jumping and waving his arms desperately, signaling Anos to pay attention to himself.
“…The activities of the Pietists have always been focused in the Principalities. Why did you come to the Alpha Empire?”
Anos stood at the door and asked the two devout priests in a calm tone. His blue eyes were calm and there was only an imperceptible pause when he glanced at Luo Mi.
Seeing that Anos didn’t seem to notice him, Luo Mi stood on one leg next to the bookshelf, stretched out his arms, made himself a big “10”, and jumped up and down on the spot.
Because he could not stand steadily on one foot, he tilted forward and was about to fall on a missionary. Fortunately, at the critical moment, his long and thin tail wrapped around the chair next to him, allowing him to stabilize his body.
Luo Mi wiped his sweat, thankful that the chair was heavy enough. But then he found that his tail was tied into a knot on the back of the chair.
Luo Mi had no choice but to walk to the chair to solve it, while complaining to the system: “Didn’t the tail get covered by the Holy Son’s magic?”
[The Holy Son said at the time that the effect would only last until midnight.]
It was now late at night. As time went by, perhaps the effect of the magic was fading, and the tail was thus revealed.
“How can this tail be tied so tightly!” Luo Mi tried to untie it for a long time without success, and punched the tail in anger, “Did I just roll it into a knot subconsciously?”
After one punch, Luo Mi felt his fist and tail protesting at the same time, and he almost cried in pain.
“….This is also the purpose of our devout sect.”
After one of the missionaries finished speaking, he was waiting for the handsome secular pastor opposite to answer. But he saw that the pastor’s eyes were shifted and absent-minded. He couldn’t help but feel a little angry, “Are you listening?”
Anos turned his gaze away from the tearful boy squatting beside the chair, his face seemingly very so calm: “…Yes.”
Another missionary sneered: “Secular believers are always so arrogant.”
“The Alpha Empire is a secular diocese, and the principalities are pious dioceses. This was an agreement between His Holiness St. Gregory II and the original pious patriarch…”
As Anos spoke, he slowly walked into the room, walked around, came to Luo Mi, and patted the chair as if he was pondering.
Luo Mi’s tail seemed to be scalded, and it loosened with a “whoosh” and shrank behind Luo Mi’s butt.
Luo Mi rubbed his butt and bowed to Anos to express his gratitude.
The corners of Anos’ lips curled up slightly.
When Anos helped Luo Mi untie his tail, the missionary who had delivered a long speech on the faith and doctrine of the Pietists saw the pastor opposite him smiling. He thought he was being mocked and immediately turned cold: “If you don’t want to talk to us, then go back and report to your Pope!”
Anos coughed lightly and said, “Your Holiness is not here. I have the right to handle all affairs of the Holy See.”
The two missionaries, who were filled with rage at the absent-minded contempt of the young and pretty priest, suddenly sneered, “Are you some cardinal?”
Luo Mi, who was squatting on the ground, suddenly had his eyes light up and looked at Anos with sparkling eyes.
What a suitable line to be slapped in the face!
Anos stared at Luo Mi silently for a moment, then looked up at the two missionaries opposite him and said calmly: “My name is Anos Crean.”
Luo Mi muttered, “Just reporting a name is not enough, right? At least you have to come up with some special effects to prove it?”
Fortunately, the pious missionary obviously understood the meaning of this name and looked at Anos in shock: “Your Highness the Angel?!”
They looked Anos up and down in disbelief, and after contemplating his extraordinary beauty and his blue eyes for a long time, they let out a breath, and suddenly changed the tense atmosphere, bowing deeply to Anos: “Your Highness the Angel, please forgive our rudeness just now.”
Luo Mi looked at the two men in surprise, stroking his chin and asking, “Is Anos’ name so intimidating?”
Anos didn’t seem surprised. He picked up the document that Luo Mi had pointed at from the bookshelf, took a look at it, and his expression became serious: “Did you set the standard for the witch trial?”
“It was formulated by His Excellency Bishop Fradin Maannulla,” a missionary replied. “We were invited to Larry Town to preside over the witch trial, so we brought this standard with us.”
Anos stared at them and said, “The mayor of Larry Town should not have any contact with the Pietists. Who invited you here?”
The missionary hesitated for a moment, but still answered, “It is His Excellency Balk Sheen, Lord of Reed County.”
Anos pursed his lips slightly.
Although Luo Mi had no political talent, he still tasted some unusual information: “Since the Empire is a secular diocese, it stands to reason that the Lord of Reed County should also support the secular faction.”
[Perhaps this is the struggle between religion and secular aristocracy.]
Earlier, when Anos mentioned that the Holy See was collecting taxes on its own, Luo Mi felt that the local lords would not be happy about this, but he did not expect that things had become so tense behind the scenes.
But no matter how much theocracy and secular power quarreled, the lives of ordinary people should not be used as sacrifices.
“Whatever the pietists want to do, they should not sacrifice the lives of civilians.”
As Anos said this, his pure white gloves glowed slightly, and a ball of fire appeared out of nowhere, igniting the documents.
The missionary who rarely spoke suddenly said, “They are not victims, they just entered the kingdom of God before us.”
Another missionary nodded as well: “God created everything and accommodates everything. After we die, we will all go to God’s kingdom and accept all the sins we redeemed in our lifetime. If those women are real witches, then the trial is naturally fair. If they are not, then the burning they endured in their lifetime can actually reduce the punishment they will endure when they go to God’s kingdom after death.”
Luo Mi was stunned: “I have never seen such shameless remarks!”
If you burn it correctly, it’s your credit. If you burn it incorrectly, it’s a good thing for the victim, right?
Originally, because faith was not tied to secular power, Luo Mi had a favorable impression of the Devout. Now it seemed that the Devout were also a kind of religious class, not much better than the secular.
Anos was silent for a moment before he said, “It is the job of the ‘Chosen Ones’ to judge the sins and punishments of the world. It is not for God’s believers to speculate.”
The two missionaries did not deny it, but they obviously did not agree with it.
Anos asked some more questions, and the two missionaries answered them one by one.
Some information, such as how the two missionaries avoided Father Valarie in the town church, made Luo Mi and Anos realize that Father Valarie had known for a long time that two devout missionaries had moved into the mayor’s house, but he had accepted bribes from the mayor and did not report it.
Later, when the witch trials became more and more frequent, Father Valarie began to panic and sent a “telegram” to the cathedral in Reed County. However, for some reason, the Holy City did not receive it until recently.
After asking all the questions, Anos stretched out his hand and pointed at the two missionaries in front of him. His pleasant voice carried a hint of majesty beyond his age: “In the name of God, those who do good will be rewarded, and those who do evil will be punished…”
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[1] The ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ (Hammer of Witches) is a text like no other. Published in the late 15th century, it provided a guide for hunting and persecuting witches that would heavily influence the next 200 years of the European witch craze. It is one of the great landmarks in the history of witchcraft.